Chapter Text
Seth
“Put this on,” Horus said as he dropped a large black piece of cloth on the table in front of Seth. Then Horus returned to staring at the tiny device in his left hand. “While I try to figure out how to get a hold of Anubis.” Something about Seth’s request had annoyed him, but Seth wasn’t sure what exactly. He'd asked Seth what Seth wanted, after all.
Weren’t you allies against me? Seth wondered, thinking back to the trial. He wasn't sure how close Anubis and Horus were, but it seemed odd for Horus to be annoyed about it.
But if Horus was getting him in contact with Anubis, Seth wouldn’t push it. He had enough to be suspicious about, given this was Horus. Though he didn’t like being given orders. He gazed down at the cloth, confused. “Why am I putting this on?”
“Most people aren’t going to want to see you topless outside a beach,” Horus said, glancing at Seth briefly and then away. His cheeks reddened. “Well… Some will. But it’s just not usual. It draws unneeded attention.”
“We’re gods. Why does that matter?”
“It’s just how people are now,” Horus said, clearly getting annoyed. “And if we do a video call, it’ll make things easier.”
Seth wondered what a video call was, but he got the message that putting on the garment would make success more assured. So he reached out and touched the garment skeptically, pushing it slightly. He wondered if it was a cloak… until it unrolled a bit, and he realized it was a kind of short shirt with arm wraps. He saw Horus, Isis, and Maat all wearing them, so it wasn’t quite unusual, but it looked like it would be uncomfortable to wrap around himself, given the smallness. The material itself was soft, at least.
“Oh, you probably don’t know how to handle these kinds of shirts… Here, let me help.” Horus looked down at him and put his device on the table to walk back over.
Seth was annoyed at Horus’ presumption. “I know how to put armor on!"
Horus paused, the garment in his hands, and studied Seth carefully. “I don’t mind helping.”
“I didn’t ask!” Seth said, taking the garment from him. He could see on Horus’ body something like how it was meant to work and pushed his arms through the arm wraps. It was open over his front, which was at least comfortable, though the material felt strange.
“You have to do up the buttons.” Horus pointed to the tiny ceramic-like piece along the inner sides of the shirt. “Put the buttons in the holes on the other side, which makes the shirt close properly, like this.” He tapped the center of his chest, where a line of buttons was visible.
Seth frowned and reached out to his shirt, getting one small button into a hole on the other side of the shirt. He did up all the ones he could see, and then frowned at the result, which was too tight and stretched weirdly, and was likely pathetic against attack. He knew Isis, Nephthys, and Osiris often dressed up for displays, but this felt ridiculous.
“Oh you did them a bit wrong,” Horus said with a smile. “Can I help? It’ll only be the once. You’ve skipped through thousands of years of clothing advancement, it’s not a mark on your abilities that you’re struggling with this.”
Seth scowled and said, “Fine.” It was better than floundering. If he could manage Tefnut showing him pointers with a spear, and Ra yelling at him how to row, he could manage Horus redoing the buttons of this odd top.
It unfortunately meant Horus moved in close to him, so that Seth could feel the heat from the other god’s body. Memories of their matches against each other came back to him, and of nights on the sun boat where Seth hadn’t been able to sleep for fear of an attack. As Horus’ hand brushed Seth’s stomach, Seth shoved him away and backed up, breathing hard.
He wouldn’t be ambushed again!
Horus blinked at Seth from where Horus was sprawled on the floor. But where Seth expected him to be angry and call Isis or Maat to revoke Seth’s probation, Horus instead asked, “Did I hurt you?”
“…No.” Seth remembered he was in a dwelling in the living realm, not on the sun boat. He wasn’t in danger here. Horus and Isis would see to that. “Sorry. Habit.” Seth breathed in. He could stand Horus being nearby. He could be still. “It’s fine. You can try again. I won’t shove you this time.” Was this violating the terms of his limited freedom? Would Maat return and take him back to Ra anyway?
“…If you’re sure.” Horus pushed himself up and approached slowly, keeping slightly back this time as he reached down to redo the buttons.
Seth kept his breathing even, glad that Horus wasn’t demanding he be dragged back to the sun boat. Letting an enemy in like this was a sure way to get yourself killed or at least badly injured there. You always had to be wary, at all times. The only time Seth was ever relatively at ease was when he was rowing, since he learned to recognize all the rowers. But Horus smelled different, and the familiar movement of the sun boat was gone. This all read wrong to him.
Once, I’d never been on the sun boat, Seth thought as Horus backed up, seemingly done with his work. Seth looked down. The shirt was a little tighter, but not overly so. It was comfortable enough. All the buttons were in their holes. He was a little warmer than he’d been.
“We’ll get you some pants later,” Horus said with a smile. “But you look good. I’ll have a tailor come over later to get your measurements.”
“…I don’t know what most of those words mean.” Seth could understand them, but he wasn’t sure what Horus was referring to.
“Ah, I mean an alternate kind of wrap for your legs that’s more typical now.” Horus indicated the wraps around his own legs, that outlined them well. “And a tailor is someone who can better create clothes for you based on your body size. They specialize in making clothes.”
“I can make my own clothes,” Seth noted in confusion. Are gods so lazy now? He grimaced. I sound like Ra.
“You can. But it’s good to have physical spares for emergencies.”
Seth didn’t really understand that, but clearly the living realm was a stranger place than Seth recalled.
There was a ding from the device Horus was using before, and he picked it up to look at it. He smiled. “Anubis says he can do a video call.” He looked at Seth. “That’s a way to see someone remotely. Anubis can’t come visit right now, but you can communicate to him through my computer, and you’ll be able to see and hear him.”
“Why can’t we just go visit him?” Seth asked as he followed Horus through the apartment. It was smaller than he expected, but not horrible. And it smelled faintly of flowers. The ground was made of wood, almost like a boat. There were soft, bright torches throughout the room, but they didn’t smell like fire or oil.
“He’s busy,” Horus said as they walked into a smaller room with a desk, on which sat a box-like device with a shining screen that brightened when Horus touched part of it. “He travels a lot for his duties. Humans are even better at killing each other than they used to be, so he has a lot of souls to look after. And there are just more humans generally.”
Seth remembered seeing Anubis less and less over the years the rare occasions Anubis would visit the sun boat when Anubis was in the area. Anubis always seemed like he had to go somewhere. As a god of the dead, it made sense he would be busy.
Horus paused and looked back at Seth. “He said he visited you a few times on the sun boat. Is that true?”
Seth nodded. Initially, Anubis had attacked the sun boat on Osiris’ behalf, but Ra had quickly put a stop to that, telling Anubis he was a fool if he thought he was performing his duties correctly that way. Anubis had stood before Ra on her sun boat, in his ascended god form, while Seth stared, still bleeding from the shadows Anubis had used to attack them all. Seth had been shocked that Anubis had ascended, and even more shocked to discovered he’d lost his memories. But Seth was unable to ask any questions. After Ra clarified things to Anubis, Anubis only visited rarely, to intercede on occasion when Osiris attacked. But even that stopped after a while, and Osiris attacked alone.
“He’s still alive,” Ra had told him many a time. “I’ll know if he dies. He’s a god now.”
Seth had the chance to speak to Anubis now, without worrying about Ra or the sun boat. Seth needed to know what had happened in his absence. It was one of the driving forces of his life on board the sun boat: speak to Anubis, learn what happened. Ra would never tell him, other than to confirm Anubis ascended, mostly because Seth saw it himself.
“This is your punishment, Seth, not a trip with your son,” Ra had said to him with a smile. “Now go back to learning to row properly. You’re slowing everyone down.”
“Got it!” Horus said with a grin. “Seth, come sit here on the chair.”
You need to stop ordering me around. But Seth assumed he didn’t have much of a choice, so he walked forward and sat in the cushioned chair Horus indicated. Then he had to grab onto the desk when the chair began to move oddly.
Horus held the chair and said, “Ah, sorry! It’s got wheels so you can move around on it!”
Seth looked down and could see that, yes, the chair had small wheels. He moved his feet experimentally, testing it. Why would you add wheels to a chair?
He wondered if humans these days attacked people from their offices often.
“So you’ll need to look here,” Horus said, calling Seth’s attention back. He was pointing at a dot over the bright screen, which Seth’s eyes adjusted to. “This is what Anubis will see you through.”
“…This isn’t a window,” Seth said, frowning at the device. There were objects on the odd glass, none of which he recognized. The glass was also strangely clear and shiny for what he was used to.
“It’s a kind of communication device,” Horus said. He lifted the small device he’d used earlier. “Like this. Anubis isn’t on the other side of it, exactly. But it’s connecting you to him. Kind of like a communication spell.”
Seth was skeptical of that, but he could understand the basics. “Okay.”
Horus reached out and touched a small, dark, round object on the desk, then pressed his finger down. That made the objects on the window move a little, and a square in the middle lit up. Then Seth saw Anubis blinking at him through the screen. Anubis looked just as he had the last time Seth had seen him: taller, with broader shoulders, and an unreadable expression. But the black jackal mask he wore was gone. Instead, dark eyes under long, wavy, dark hair gazed back at Seth.
“Father,” Anubis said. His voice was low and clear. “So you really are free.” He didn’t seem angry or even alarmed. Just neutral. Perhaps betraying Seth twice and having thousands of years to think it over had settled him a bit. He’d seemed a little less antagonistic over the course of his visits, and was mostly curious about Seth.
Or perhaps he felt this was an unsuitable medium through which to settle old scores.
“Anubis…” Seth said, feeling his breath catch. He was so happy to see Anubis, and without Ra or anyone else to pull him away. His emotions were like a flood, and he reminded himself Horus was standing just to his right, watching them. He couldn’t show weakness here. He cleared his throat and looked at the point Horus said he should look. “Yes, I’m free. But Horus is my… caretaker, I suppose.”
Anubis nodded. The area around him was blurry, and Seth wondered if the spell was weak. “It’s probably very weird to suddenly be in the modern world. How are you coping?”
Seth smiled grimly, aware that Horus was watching all the while. “I’ve only been here briefly, so I imagine as well as can be expected.” He hoped he wasn’t doing poorly. The shirt was embarrassing, but Horus wasn’t bringing it up, and Anubis wasn’t saying anything else about Seth’s appearance. Anubis also seemed to be wearing a similar garment, and his ribbon was gone, which made Seth a bit sad.
Anubis smiled. It looked soft on him and reminded Seth of Nephthys’ smiles.
I haven’t even thought about her, Seth thought with some alarm. Seth didn’t want to touch the thought at all, but if Anubis was able to get in touch with him, then…
“Do you visit your mother?” Seth asked. He didn’t know what answer he wanted, but it seemed like the right question to ask. He didn’t even know if Nephthys was still in Heliopolis, but if Anubis was traveling, it seemed likely she wouldn’t be with him. She’d never been with Anubis when he attacked the sun boat.
“A bit,” Anubis said. “We have a meal together every other week. Are you planning to see her?”
Seth tried to keep his expression neutral. “I don’t know. We’ll have to see what the future brings.”
Rather than get mad like he used to whenever he brought up Nephthys with Seth, Anubis only nodded. “I understand. We should all get together, maybe. If that’s possible.”
The idea was terrifying, but Seth didn’t want to say no if it meant he could see Anubis.
Anubis glanced to his left, at something Seth couldn’t see. “There are some things we need to talk about.” He smiled with an odd softness. “A lot of things.”
Seth smiled ruefully. “Yes, I imagine.” All in all this was going better than he’d imagined. “And… Osiris? Do you talk to him?”
Anubis’ expression grew cold. “No. We don’t talk if we can avoid it.”
Seth’s smile widened. “Good. That’s good.” Anubis was at least safe on that front, then. Though he wondered what the story was there. But it wasn’t the only thing he wanted to talk about. “And how is your godhood treating you? Are things well?”
Anubis shrugged. “I manage well enough. It’s a lot of work, but I’m used to it.”
“You’re getting proper rest?” Seth asked, a bit worried by what Anubis was saying. “Not that I think you’re not capable, but…”
Anubis grinned. “I get rest. Khnum makes sure I do.”
“…Khnum?” Seth said, suddenly wary. “The river god?”
Anubis nodded. “Yes. I guess it’s been… a long time. But it’s new to you, right? We’re married.”
Seth blinked, unsure he’d heard correctly. “What?”
Anubis raised his left hand before his face, where a small black ring with a blue stone in its center rested on one of his fingers. “Yup! We’ve been living together for about 1200 years. We can’t always be together because of our duties, but we make it work.” He lowered his hand. “I’ll bring him when we talk with Mother. It’ll be nice.”
Seth wasn’t at all sure what to say to all this. Anubis? Married? But Anubis looked so happy.
And then Seth grew slightly worried. He probably thinks I’m angry… He was always so aware of my moods when he was younger… So Seth smiled and said, “Congratulations! I’m glad for you!” 1200 years… I missed so much… “I’ll be happy to see you both!”
Anubis’ smile widened, which helped offset the butterflies in Seth’s stomach. Anubis glanced to his left and said, “I have to head out. But did you need to talk about something else before I go?”
“I just wanted to see you,” Seth said, shelving all the other questions he had for later. “It’s been so long. And… I wanted to know how you were doing.” Such little things, really. Anubis had this entire life without Seth. Seth was clearly in the way of that. Like he had been all Anubis’ life. After all, Anubis had ascended after Seth left it. “Ra never told me how you ascended.”
Horus twitched slightly, and Seth glanced at him, but Horus’ expression was neutral.
“There was a war after you left for the sun boat,” Anubis said, quieter, drawing Seth’s attention back to the not-window. Anubis’ expression was calm. “The humans needed help that the other gods, and a mere demigod, could not provide. So I ascended to help. Egypt might have been taken over by outsiders, otherwise.”
Seth was awed by that. But saddened, too. “I’m sorry that burden fell on your shoulders.” It should have been Seth’s problem. Or Horus’. Or Isis’.
Anubis shrugged. “Don’t be. It led to good things, didn’t it? I ascended, I got to work more with Khnum, and now here I am.” Anubis’ smile was strange, then. Seth thought it seemed a little forced. “I really need to go, though. Horus will give you my number when you get your own phone. We’ll talk again soon. I’ll call Mother to set up a meeting.”
“Of course,” Seth said, unsure what else to say, but unable to come up with a way to prolong the communication.
Seth hoped Horus knew how to handle ending the spell.
Anubis smiled. “It was good to talk to you again… Father.”
“It was good to talk to you, Anubis,” Seth replied, smiling warmly. He wished he could reach out and touch Anubis, but imagined that wasn’t possible. Or welcome.
Anubis waved at him, and the square on the screen went dark.
“The call ended,” Horus explained when Seth became alarmed. “But you’ll learn how to text him and call him again if you’d like.”
“There was a war?” Seth asked, looking up at Horus with a frown. “Anubis participated? No one told me there was a war.”
Horus’ expression was hard. “I didn’t know you didn’t know. You couldn’t sense it?”
“I was focused on staying alive on the sun boat,” Seth said, shaking his head. “Matters of the human realm like that… We could never see those kinds of things. Not with clarity.” Many of the realms the sun boat passed through were chaotic. And Seth paid more attention to that and his own survival than the glimpses of the land of the living. Plus, Seth rested at odd times, either from exhaustion or his own injuries. And his vision was limited when he was rowing.
“There was a war,” Horus said. “Egypt was victorious. Anubis helped. His ascension helped.”
Helped how? Was he hurt? Did someone specific attack him or someone else? Seth looked at the dark screen, feeling suddenly bereft. “I need to catch up on it all. Now. I need… I need to know what I missed.”
“It’s a lot of history, and we have time,” Horus said. “There’s no need to rush.”
“You weren’t stolen from your time!” Seth said, glaring up at Horus, noticing that Horus’ eyes widened in alarm. “You didn’t miss out on your family growing into themselves! Don’t tell me there’s no need to rush.” Seth felt a hard anger within himself, and he wasn’t sure what he wanted to use it on. Just that it rushed through him, ready to be used.
He clamped down on his powers, knowing that going off here would do him no favors. Horus hadn’t said Seth would be barred from seeing Anubis, so if Seth just kept calm, then perhaps…
“I know,” Horus said after a moment. “Though I did have my life with my father stolen from me.”
Seth grimaced. He supposed Horus had a right to that, even if Osiris was an execrable waste of space.
“I might have a solution to this as well,” Horus said. He pulled out his little communication device again. “Information like that isn’t my specialty. But Thoth owes me some favors. We’ll see if he can help.”